posted on 2024-01-17, 20:33authored bySiavash Fadaeerayeni, Xingyi Lyu, Lingzhe Fang, Peng Wang, Jiachun Wu, Tao Li, Thomas Senftle, Yizhi Xiang
Ammonia reforming of light alkane is conventionally employed
for
HCN production where coproduct H2 is burned for heating
owing to the high reaction temperature (1200 °C) of such a highly
endothermic process. Here, we show that a Ni3Ga1 intermetallic compound (IMC) catalyst is highly efficient for such
a reaction, realizing efficient conversion of C1–C3 alkanes at 575–750 °C. This makes it feasible
for on-purpose COx-free H2 production
assuming that ammonia, as an H2 carrier, is ubiquitously
available from renewable energy. At 650 °C and an alkane/ammonia
ratio of 1/2, ethane and propane conversion of ∼20% and methane
conversion of 13% were obtained (with nearly 100% HCN selectivity
for methane and ethane) over the unsupported Ni3Ga1 IMC, which also shows high stability due to the absence of
coke deposition. This breakthrough is achieved by employing a stoichiometric
Ni3Ga1 mixed oxalate solid solution as the precursor
for the Ni3Ga1 IMC.